From Last of Iraqis

Yesterday I was in the most terrible horrifying situation. I don't know what to do to release the rage and pain tearing my heart apart, I thought that if I write a post about what happened it may make me feel better……

2 days ago me and my wife were talking about our memories and times together, and the memories even before we met each other, we remembered the life before the war and how the neighborhoods were, how beautiful most of them were, how much fun and safe Baghdad was, we talked for hours. Both of us were so sad because we don't have photos for Baghdad before the war and the beautiful scenes in it, more than that we even don't have pictures for the last year!! -Which was a lot better than this one...

Then a thought came to me, why don't I go on a quest to take photos for most of the areas of Baghdad ??? That would be a great documentary and then I might even write a post about it !!! So I told my wife and she got really angry about the thought she said: "are you crazy!!!! Do you want to get killed, please don't go, pleeeease." So I told her I wouldn't.

But the next day which was yesterday, I couldn't resist the temptation of this quest, every one knows me, when I want to do something I'll do it even if I know in my heart that it's wrong but I'm a kind of bull-headed, after I finished work I got to my car determined to visit most of Baghdad's neighborhoods, I took my handy cam and drove there.

I had already taken amazing videos, starting from the clinic I work in, I had taken a video of a police pick-up truck loaded with dead bodies and driving insanely fast with the policemen shooting at the air, and many other destructed sites in my way. I went through many neighborhoods, but I wanted to go to Al-Mansour neighborhood which was one of the most beautiful and classy neighborhoods in Baghdad which I heard that it's a wreck now.

As I reached there, I saw a mini bus in the middle of the street, there was glass around it, it was clear that this mini-bus was exposed to drive-by shooting so I concentrated my vision on it and pointed my handy cam. As I reached near the bus I heard gun shots!!! It was extremely close to me!!! I turned my head and I saw a police man pointing the AK-47 at me and shouting :"YOU, Stop right now, I swear by Ali I will kill you" I was very shocked and scared, I didn't know what to do. Or, what have I done wrong!!! I stopped then he approached with 3 other police men who were obviously members of Magaoer Il-Dakhelia (special forces of the ministry of interior), he approached the door and opened it, dragged me out of the car then pushed me against the car with very rough manner, then he pointed the rifle at my forehead between my eyes, screaming: "I swear I'll kill you if you move a thumb, you worth shit to me". Till this moment I didn't know what have I done, I was unable to speak. Meanwhile, one of the police men with him entered my car and carried the handy cam. After I got kicked and hit with the back of rifles, I knew that they are angry because I have video-taped their failure, they suspected that I'm Sunni but I lied to them and told them I'm Shiite as my name is not related to any sect, so they wouldn't find out. What tears my heart apart is that I got insulted and abused verbally and physically by people from the lowest level of society and for no reason at all, just because they wanted to rub me!!! They took my handy cam and my mobile and refused to give it back to me, they stole them from me, they stole the handy cam which I worked hard for two months to afford it, I deprived my self to save money for the handy cam…and those despicable thugs stole it from me, I have never been humiliated like this before, that is so hard for me, I feel like I'm going to explode, they insulted me and rubbed me and there was nothing I could do, if I did anything they would kill me right away. That's unfair, that's too much for any man to handle, we have a famous say in Iraq (Hameeha Harameha) which is translated (who guards it steels it), OH how true is that ….. will this ever end….but what I'm really sad about is my wife …. She is so depressed and afraid, she is very traumatized from what happened, she is having nightmares, I'm afraid that will affect her studying and exams, I don't know what to do.

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© 2007 Mohammed X

From Last of Iraqis